Turbine.



0. HE G. PROFFITT.

TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1912. 1,066,946. Patented July 8, 1913.,

2 BEBBTB-SHEBT 1.

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C. DE G. PROPPITT.

' TURBINE.

APPLIOATION TILED NOV. 20, 1912.

QQ NN WITNESSES R R 2 O m mm m a M y w N M mm P J dB 2 m UNITED STATES PATENT. 1 FFIOE.

CHASTAIN DE GRASSE PROFFITT, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

TURBINE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OHASTAIN Du Guassu lnorrrr'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Hon rice and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fluid-Turbines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fluid motors and more particularly to motors of the turbine type, adapted for use with either water or steam.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide an efficient radial flow wheel so constructed that the pressures on opposite sides thereof will be balanced so as to take the thrust off of the bearings.

Other objects will appear from the following description.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a conventional central, vertical section through my improved motor as constructed for use with water; Fig. 2 is a similar View of an arrangement adapted for use with steam; Fig. 3 is a plan View of one of the wheels which I employ; Fig. at is a similar view of a modified construction of wheel; Fig. 5 is a detailed plan of the hub construction; and, Fig. 6 is a section substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly to Figs. 1, 3, 5, and 6, thereof, each of my improved wheels consists of one or more plates 1, 2, two of such plates being illustrated in Fig. 1, which plates form a body or support for the blades. The blades, as shown in Fig. 3, are formed of blocks of any suitable material and are designated by the reference character 4:. As shown in Fig. 3, the blades are curved in form and are so shaped as to lie slightly closer together on their outer periphery than at the end nearer the center, thus forming curved tapering fluid passages l having their outer ends somewhat reduced in size and so disposed as to discharge streams of fluid in a substantially tangential direction. The type of wheel shown in Fig. 3 may be employed either with steam or water as a motive power. One or more (two being shown) of the plates, such as 1, are secured to the shaft by means of split hubs 6, secured together by bolts 7 as clearly shown in Fig. 5. One of these hub sections is arranged on each- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 20, 1912.

Patented July 8, 1913.

Serial No. 732,498.

side of each plate and bolts 8 pass through all of said hub sections and plates and bind them securely together. (See Fig. (3.) The blades 4L do not extend all the way to the center of the wheel, but are spaced therefrom to provide a central chamber 5, each plate having a plurality of openings 3 between the blades and the hub serving to establish communication between all of said chambers. In practice, I preferably employ a series of wheels upon the same shaft. As shown in Fig. 1, these wheels may be secured to a Vertically arranged shaft 9, mounted in bearings 10 and 11. The bearing 10 may be carried by a top plate 12, supported in any suitable manner, as by means of bolts 1?) upon the upper end of the wheel casing l t, which in reality constitutes a portion of the draft tube 15. The plate 1 1 is cut away at its center to provide an intake opening 16, such opening lying inunediately above and being substantially of the same diameter as chambers 5. Underneath .iHZll wheel is ar ranged a bottom plate 17, 17, etc., suitably supported as by means of I-beams 1.8. The whole system may be supported by suitable columns 19. 20 designates the forebay for supplying water to the wheels and 21 indicates a wall surrounding and extending above the lower edge 15 of the draft tube 15 so as to provide a water seal therefor. Water entering the wheel casing at the in take opening 16 flows radially outward between the first set of blades carried by the upper surface of the plate '1. Part of the water passes downwardly through the opeuings E3 in such plate and thence radially outward between the vanes located between the two plates. Part of the water also passes downwardly through the openings 3 in the second plate and thence radially outward through the lower set of vanes. lt will be noted that the top and bottom faces of the wheel are smooth and flat and work closely between the plates l.-'land t7, and it will be seen that the water pressure between the plate 2 and the plate l7 will counteract the pressure between the plate 1 and the plate 14 and thus, as it were, cause the wheel to float between the two plates 14 and 17, the weight of the water producing substantially no end thrust. From the lirst wheel the water passes downwardly through the openings 16 in the top plate 14L of the next wheel chamber and thence through the next wheel in the manner described above, pro

ducing the same effect. "Thus, the water passes in succession through the series of' wheels until it finally escapes from the lower; end of the draft tube. It will thus be seen 5 that the bearing 11 is not subjected to any thrust or strain a due to the weight of' a: column of--water, since-in each wheel the pressures are balancedbrieqilaliZed inboth: directions.

with vanes on each-side thereof, 11135 1066111- ployed, if desired, and will produce the saine balanced-effect, the essential feature being themarrangelnent .ofthe wheel betweentwo iixed plates. .In the largersizes it maybe- 15, necessary in practiceto eXtendthe-edge. of. done of ,the plates, such as 1, beyond the vanes, as indicated at 1?, .sothat fixedguide 'brackets ,(not shown) may he ,applied to such projecting ledge for the purpose of steadying the wheel and giving the .n-eces-' saryt rigidity thereto.

I11,F i-g. 4, I have shown aslig-htlynmoditied formof wheel-in whichthe vanesare composed of .blocks 24:, with straight, .nar

25 row fluid passages 245 therebetween such passages being slightly .small-er atthe pe-. riphery of the .wheel: than, atthe. end nearer the center. 'The purpose of making .the fluid passages -S1IiLll6f at the outer than :at

the inner ends-as abovedescribed, and as shown in Figs. 3 and L, is; to insure the fluid issuing from the periphery of the wheelat :high velocity. There ,will necessarily be a slight leakage between the blades and :the

plates, such as .14 and 17 ,,,and the tapering @forrn offiuid passage is designedto-coin- .pensate for such leakage. Inother words; .the intake end of=thepassages beinglargeri than 1 the discharge. end, such. dischargeend willrun always full,.notwithstandingslight leakage.

In F 2, I have illustrated. my improved, wheel asembodiedina steamrturbine. A series of wheels, A, 13,0, andD, are prefer-'1' ,ably Inountedupon a shaft 29 journaledini .bearingsBO andBl, theiattenbeing carried .by the-end wall 32 ofthe casing Theif casinglis prefer-ably divided into a plurality;

.,of wheel charnbersby means oftransverseg partition plates 33 and '34, arranged as; shown. Each wheel worksbetween a partivtion plate. 34 and an auxiliary plate 37, cor-i responding in operation andfunction with; ,theplate 17. of-Fig. 1. Steam enters the cas-i ,ing through an.'intake opening 38 and passesj .thence through a throat 36. into and through; ,thefirst wheel A, the pressure onoppoSite; sides of such vwheelbeing equalized in the manner above described. The .steaintheni ,passes through the opening .36 into and through the wheel B and :thence throughwheels 0 and D in succession, whence itv finally escapes through the. exhaust opening 39. ,The. casing maybe .supportedon suitable pedestals 4 0. It willbenotedthat the;

Only a single plate, such as 1,

. so as to allow for the expansion of the steam.

The wheel D is shown as consisting of four 'sets of blades instead of three, and it may be expedient to increase the number even bewyondithis in certain cases. In order to prevent the escape of steam through the openings in the platesthroughwhichg'theshaft passes, II preferably: mount on said shaft; ad-

jacent each of Is-uch openings, a, ring or 001- lar 4L1. Inthe ease ofthe plates 37,ithe pressure'holds suchrings iniposition while Qtheaend rings, adjacent the bearings may be ,securedbyineans vofafixed collars .142.

It will be understood that eitherxoflthe wheels=shown in Fig.3 or .Fig. iifin-ay be employed with either steam. .or water, ,eX- I perience may indicate.

What I claim is: I

=1. :A turbine wheel; comprising a circular plate and ,a plurality .,of continuous subsstantially radially disposed anes disposed on each side thereof, said plate being .cut

away adjacent ,its center to provideiopenings,each vaneextending from such cutaway portion to the peripher-y of, the wheel.

2. A turbine wheel haying substantially radially dis osedvanes oneach sidethereof extending rorn .near the. center to the periphery of the wheel, each .vane extending fromnearithe center .to the periphery of. the wheel, the .sideedges ofsaid Evanes :all. lying in the .S LI l-e planeand a pair. offlat srnooth 1 0 rplates between which said wheel 1 is mounted for rotation with which the .said. edges of said vanesare. in substantial. engagement.

3- .A radial .fibw turbine heel having continuous, uninterrupted. radial fluid ,pas- 5 sages on each side face thereof, and.a pair v.of plates between which ,said wheel is adapted ;,to rotate, such ,plates constituting onetwallof.said fluid passages.

4. A vradial flow turbine wheel having continuous, J ninterrupted, radially extending fluidpassages ona each side face thereof new near thefcenter to the periphery of the wheel, a pairof platesbetween which sai .wheel isladapted t0 rotatm such plates con- .stituting .one wall .of. said passages, and means for supplying: fluid Simultaneously .to .the ,passages oneach side .of said Wheel whereby the fluid pressures ,,on said wheelare. equalized. l

5. Thecombination with apair offixed plates spaced apart, of ,a turbine wheel amounted for rotation "between said plates and provided voneach face with radially disposedfiuid passages extending from a point :near the center )to the 'periphery of the wh eel,.one of said plates being cutiawayat .its center to a provide :an intake opening for supplying fluid .to. one side of said wheel, and said wheel \itself being cut away at points opposite said intake opening to provide a passageway for supplying fluid to said fluid passages.

the other side of said Wheel. In testimony whereof I have affixed my 6. A radial flow turbine Wheel having sig1'1ature,in presence of two Witnesses.

fluid assa es on each side face thereof such 1 passages being smaller at their outer than CHAS'IAIN DE GRASSE PROPFI'M' at their inner ends and tapering uniformly \Vitnesses:

throughout their length, and a pair of plates D. J. ELVERY,

between Which said Wheel is adapted to r0- HA'r'rim VENISKEY.

tate, such plates constituting one Wall of 10 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of IE'atents, Washington, D. G. 

